Away Trip Of Benefit

Last updated : 10 July 2016 By ed_ScottishFitba

C:WindowsTempphp9611.tmpCeltic manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with their 13-day pre-season trip to Slovenia ahead of their first competitive game of the season in Gibraltar. Overseeing training sessions in the summer heat, the new manager had the chance to spend valuable time working with his players alongside winning two and drawing two of their pre-season games. Rodgers admits he’s still in the early stages of implementing his plans for the team, but intends to lead his team into the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round tie, against Lincoln Red Imps, feeling positive about how his players have responded to his ideas.
 
He said: "It’s been a huge benefit as it takes you away and you are virtually in each other’s pockets for the two weeks. We have put in a lot of great work, not just on the field where the fitness has been developed throughout, but also in the tactical ideas we are trying to implement which I can see improving on a daily basis. You get to see them more in a pressure situation but certainly over time, they're challenged in every aspect of the game – technically, tactically, physically and mentally. You get to see them operate under stress and with the conditions as well which are very hot and humid, so there are a lot of stresses put on the players. But they have coped excellently and their willingness and attitude to be better players has been very clear to me. It’s still going to take time for it to be fully integrated but we have been able to set some standards off the field as well, establishing as a team our goals that we want to achieve for the season and our values as a team, the real true values of how we want to work. So we have had that, along with lots of analysis, preparation and time together, getting to know characters and their behaviour. It’s been such a joy coming in. The staff have been first-class and given us great support. All in all, it’s been a great experience, I have really enjoyed it so far."
 
Having had time to see at close quarters the squad he inherited, the Irishman has also been able to identify what areas of the team he needs to bolster.  Rodgers went on: "I have really enjoyed working with all the players and getting to see them. Some I knew, like Scott Brown along with a few of the international boys, but others I didn’t have a great idea of and it’s been really good to look at them really closely and see how they are working. I have been really impressed by the quality of the team and if we can get some players in to help them and increase that quality, then it should serve us well for the season. There are one or two areas where the players need help with and that’s something the club and I are looking closely at to look and see if we can do anything on that front."